Improvement in machines for sewing buttons to cloth



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. C. TAFT. MACHINE FOR SEWING BUTTONS 'IO CLOTH, m. 0.170,?84. Patented Dec. 7,1875.

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2Sheets-Sheet 2. J. C. TAFT. MACHINE FOR SEWING BUTTONS T0 CLOTH, &c. N 17Q,784, Patented Dec. 7,1875.

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N-PETERSA PHOTOAJTHDGRAFHER. WASHINGTON, D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEROME o. TAFT, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR SEWING BUTTONS T0 CLOTH. &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 170,784, dated December 7, 1875; application filed August 10, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEROME G. TART, of the city and county of Providence, and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Machine for Sewing Buttons to Cloth or other Material; and do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification, and represented in the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a top view, and Figs. 2 and 3 oppositeside elevations, of such machine without its fly-wheel. Fig. 4 is a top view of the shuttle, its race, and carrier.

In the main, the machine consists of a stationary perforated work-supporter, as hereinafter described, and a needle-shuttle and a looper, and their operative mechanisms. The stationary work-supporter (shown at A) is a thin metallic bar, bent as represented at a b, and provided with a hole, 0, going through it in its lower bend, such hole being sufficiently large to receive a button-eye and the cloth or material around each that may be pressed through the hole by such eye. The needle (shown at B) is curved, to enable it to pass transversely through the button-eye and the material forced by it into or through the hole 0. Such needle is fixed to, and projects from, the upper arm of a carrier or lever, 0, arranged below the work-supporter, and pivoted to the frame D of the machine, and also to a connecting-rod, E, which, at its rear part, is jointed to another lever, G. This latter lever, pivoted, at or near its foot, to one of the standards (I d, for supporting the drivin g'shaft c, has projecting from it a stud, f, furnished with a friction-roller, g, that enters a cam-groove, h, (see Fig. 6,) made in the inner face of a wheel or disk, H, fixed upon the said shaft 0. The needle, through the lever 0, rod E, lever G, and cam-wheel H, arranged and applied together as set forth, has imparted to it its reciprocating motions in a curved path. Aside of the needle-carrier, and beneath the work-supporter, is the shuttle-race I, provided with a shuttle, K, and a shuttlecarrier, L, as shown, the latter, at its rear, being jointed to a bent connecting-rod,

M, which turns on a crankpin, t, projecting and the cam-wheel H, while the latter is being revolved. Between the needle and the shuttle-race is the looper N, which, formed as shown, is pivoted, at or near its rear end, to a lever, 0, from which a stud carrying a friction-roller projects into a cam, P, fixed on the driving-shaft. Aside view ofthis cam is shown in Fig. 5, and one of the cam-wheels H in Fig.6.

By the operation of the cam P and the lever 0 the looper receives a movement longitudinally forward and backward. 1t also has, in the meantime, upward and downward movements, which are imparted to it by a stationary stud, k, and a curved slot, 1, the latter being made in the shank of the looper. The stud k projects from the standard m, which sustains the work supporter. Furthermore, lateral movements are imparted to the looper by means of a spring, n, which moves it one Way on the stud 7c, and a lever, 0, moved by a cam or wiper, 10, that projects from the side of the cam-wheel P. B. is a marker, which slides vertically in a guide, S, and, when moved down upon the work after each button may have been sewed thereto, serves to indent it, (such work,) or mark the place thereon where the eye of the next button is to be arranged. This marker is to be operated by the attendant on the machine.

To effect the sewing of a button to a piece of cloth or work, the latter is to be laid on the supporter A, and thebuttou is to be forced down, so as to crowd the eye and the part of the work next contiguous to it through the orifice c, the eye being so presented that the needle, when next advanced, shall pass through it and the cloth or part of the work surrounding the eye. The needle, carrying a thread, is next to be moved forward through the work and the button-eye, after which the needle is to be drawn back a little, to enable the shuttle to pass through the loop of the needle, which next takes place, the needle subsequently being retracted, and the looper being advanced, and moved so as to catch the thread of the shuttle and loop it, after which the looper moves so as to carry the loop on it up into the path of the needle, in order for the needle, while next advancing, to pass through the said loop, which it will do. After the needle may have passed through the work and been withdrawn, the said loop will remain in the thread of the needle, and will be drawn tight down to the Work by the shuttle during its advance.

From the above it will be seen that while the thread of the needle is successively carried through the work and the button-eve, and is locked on one side of it by the shuttlethread, the latter, after each locking, is looped back against the under side of the mark and upon the needle-thread, so as to tie it, and betied by it, on the opposite side of the button-eye, the two threads thus being caused to form a stitch analogous to, in some respects, although different in others from, what is termed an over-and-over stitch, as usually made by a person with a needle and thread in sewing a button upon a piece of cloth.

I claimas my invention as follows, viz

1. The combination of the stationary perfo rated work supporter A and the needle B shuttle K,and the looper N, provided with mechanism for operating them, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the cam-WheelH, le-

JEROME O. TAFT.

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, J. R. Snow. 

